Chelsea: British-led consortium join bidding war as four season-tickets holders unite for ownership

A British-led consortium fronted by Chelsea supporters has confirmed that it has made a bid to buy the club.

Centricus, a London-based asset management firm, has joined forces with Jonathan Lourie of Cheyne Capital and Talis Capital’s Bob Finch, previously majority shareholder of FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark, to submit an offer prior to Friday night’s deadline.

Lourie, Finch, Centricus’ co-founder Nizar Al-Bassam and the firm’s chief executive officer Garth Ritchie are all season-ticket holders at Stamford Bridge.

‘There’s a clock ticking because the club is bleeding money at a faster rate than it should be while there’s uncertainty there, Al-Bassam said via Zoom on Sunday afternoon.

‘I’ve had the same seats in the Tambling suite and the same seats in the West Stand for 10 years. I’m worried for the staff there when I see this turmoil. 

‘We see the same people hosting us when we walk in. They’re amazing to us. We see the same people in the stands looking after us and I’m feeling for them.

‘We’ve tried to focus on a proposal which align the ownership of the club with long-term investors with a deep history with the club. If you look at the proposal we put forward, keeping it an entirely British finance proposal is core to that.

‘There are plenty of very successful clubs financed by international investors but in this case after two decades of exceptional success by the club, the club has the fanbase with the resources to support the club to maintain that success. That’s what’s very unique about this proposal.’ 

Centricus chief executive officer Garth Ritchie is part of the consortium who want to buy Blues

He’s joined forces with Jonathan Lourie of Cheyne Capital – who is also a season-ticket holder

Meanwhile, Vivek Ranadive, owner of the Sacramento Kings basketball team, has been identified as one of the mystery investors in Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Sebastian Coe’s bid to buy Chelsea.